This invention relates to cooling fans used in electronic equipment. More particularly, the invention relates to a fan mounting arrangement for simplifying electronic equipment assembly. The invention also encompasses a method of mounting a cooling fan in electronic equipment, and a computer system incorporating the cooling fan mounting arrangement.
Computers and many other types of electronic equipment include fans for cooling the equipment or specific components of the equipment. For example, one or more cooling fans are often mounted within the enclosure or chassis of a computer to cool the computer system power supply, microprocessor, hard drives, and other components that generate heat during use.
Cooling fans used in electronic equipment may generate vibrations or oscillations which may be transmitted to other components to produce acoustical noise. This acoustical noise may be particularly troublesome in a personal computer. It is therefore desirable to mount each cooling fan in an arrangement which mechanically isolates the fan. This mechanical isolation prevents vibrations from the fan from being transmitted to other components of the system.
In one prior fan mounting arrangement, resilient mounting members were used to secure the fan housing or shroud to the electronic equipment. Although these prior art mounting members could absorb fan vibrations and mechanically isolate the fan from the other components of the system, their resiliency also made it difficult to install the fan. In particular, the fan mounting procedure using these resilient members required first pulling one end of each mounting member through an opening in the fan housing, and then pulling the opposite end of each mounting member through an opening in the equipment chassis. This fan installation procedure was not only difficult, but also time-consuming.
It is an object of the invention to provide a cooling fan mounting arrangement which overcomes the above-described problems and others associated with prior cooling fan mounting arrangements. Another object of the invention is to provide a method for mounting a cooling fan in electronic equipment. A further object of the invention is to provide a computer system incorporating the cooling fan mounting arrangement.
A fan mounting arrangement according to the invention includes at least one, and commonly several, mounting members. Each mounting member includes a resilient outer element and an inner element made from a substantially rigid material. These mounting members are all arranged to extend generally parallel to each other. Each mounting member is adapted to be received in a corresponding mounting receptacle associated with a fan housing. Once the fan is placed over the mounting members with each mounting member received in its respective mounting receptacle, a retaining arrangement retains the fan in the installed position on the mounting members. In this installed position, the resilient elements absorb vibrations from the fan to mechanically isolate the fan from the remainder of the system.
In the preferred mounting arrangement, the mounting members are associated with a separate fan mounting bracket which is itself connected to the electronic equipment in which the fan is to be secured. The bracket may be connected to the electronic equipment in any suitable fashion. Both the mounting bracket and inner element of each mounting member may be molded from a single hard or rigid plastic material. The resilient outer element of each mounting member may be molded from a suitable resilient plastic or rubber material. In the preferred form of the invention, the bracket and mounting members are molded together in a two-shot molding process. The resilient elements of the mounting members are thus molded in place on the relatively large bracket and need not be secured to the bracket as a separate assembly step.
The fan mounting arrangement according to the invention has several advantages over prior cooling fan mounting arrangements. First, the inner element of each mounting member supports the respective resilient element so that each mounting member may be easily pushed through the respective mounting receptacle associated with the fan. No special tools or installation techniques are required to install the fan on the mounting members. Yet the resilient material associated with the mounting members provides the desired mechanical isolation and vibration dampening. Another significant advantage of the present mounting arrangement is that the entire arrangement, including the mounting bracket and mounting members, may be molded in a two-shot molding process to provide a single part. This production technique obviates the need to connect the resilient elements of the mounting arrangement to the rigid components, and thus reduces assembly time.
These and other objects, advantages, and features of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments, considered along with the accompanying drawings.